Chasing Pavements
by MorganBella13
Summary: Clare is in an abusive relationship. When things go from bad to worse, who will be there to save her?  "Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements?"


**A/N: So, I decided to do a Flare fic, mainly because after Eli crashed Morty like a complete psychopath, I lost a lot of the love I had for Eclare. So I wanted to try something a little different because I actually really like Flare. **

**This story is basically the same idea as my Face Down story but reversed. And no worries because this will be nothing like Face Down. It won't just be the same story but with reversed roles. I'm gonna mix it up. In the story, Vegas Night never happened, but most of the feud between Eli and Fitz has, so I'm just going to go from there. Enjoy!**

"Clare, I don't know why the hell you think you can talk to me like that." Eli said in a low voice, gripping her arm tighter. She whimpered softly. She shouldn't have said anything. She should've just kept her mouth shut. She should've just… Oh, never mind. Nothing she did would stop the pain.

"Eli, let go. You're hurting me!" She cried, struggling against his grip. He pulled her to him, his hot breath right next to her ear as he whispered to her.

"Good. You deserve it, you little bitch. Maybe next time, you'll think twice." He said menacingly. She wondered when things had gotten this bad. Eli was the guy who had swept her off her feet, who was there for her when her parents were fighting.

Over time, he had gotten more and more controlling, but it was gradual, to a point where she didn't even notice what was happening. He always had to know where she was, who she was with, and if she didn't do exactly what he said, he would yell ugly things at her and make her feel worthless.

Then he started getting physical, but again, it was gradual. Sometimes he'd grab her wrist a little too hard. Sometimes he'd shove her a little too forcefully, up until she became accustomed to it and she didn't even notice it getting worse.

"Nothing is going on between me and KC. I love _you_." She said, not believing herself when she said she loved him.

"I know you're fucking lying to me. I see the way he looks at you." He said, glaring at her. She tried to pull her wrist away again but he refused to let go of her.

"Eli. You're hurting me. All I was doing was tutoring him, I swear." She said, her bright blue eyes burning as tears threatened to spill over from the pain.

"Clare, you're so naïve. He's your ex-boyfriend. I know exactly what he's trying to pull." He practically shouted. With a final yank, she pulled her wrist from his grasp, stumbling backwards slightly. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"And what _is_ he trying to pull, Eli?" She said, only getting angrier at Eli's ridiculousness. He was always overreacting, that controlling part of him coming out more and more.

"Don't you see? He's trying to get you back! And you're falling right into his little trap!" He yelled at her. She flinched slightly at the volume of his voice, right in front of her face, his green eyes burning in fury as they did so often nowadays.

"This tutoring was set up by _Simpson_. Not KC. I didn't have a choice. You're overreacting. Again." She said. He glared and he raised his hand above his head. She knew exactly what was coming. He slapped her hard across her face and she felt the sting, backing away from him.

"Eli! Stop it!" She yelled, but that only made him angrier. He slapped her again. She yelped in pain, but it didn't seem to faze him at all.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do. I'll do whatever the hell I want. I'm not going to sit here and watch while you go whore around with KC!" He spat at her. She threw her hands up in the air.

"For the last time, I am not whoring around with KC! I'm tutoring him!" She yelled back. "You know what? Fuck it. There's no use arguing with you. I can't say anything that will make you believe me." She grabbed her bag and began to walk out his front door.

"I'll just walk home." She called over her shoulder, slamming the door shut behind her. The cool wind whipped at her face as she walked along the sidewalk. As soon as she was a safe distance away from Eli's house, she sat down on the curb and pulled out her mirror, examining her face. There was a small bruise forming, not too bad, but just big enough to be noticed.

She grabbed her foundation out of her bag and lightly dusted it across her cheekbone, covering up the bruise that Eli had left behind. She glanced at her wrist. That bruise would be a little more difficult to cover, but nothing a long-sleeved shirt wouldn't fix.

She had grown too used to this type of lifestyle. Hiding bruises, arguing with Eli 24/7, crying herself to sleep at night. She had virtually no friends. Eli had slowly but surely alienated her from Alli, Adam, Connor, and Wesley.

"What am I doing? Things were never supposed to be this way." She said out loud, looking up into the sky. She just wanted this all to end.

"Let me guess, talking to _Jesus_?" She heard a voice sneer from behind her, jumping nearly 3 feet in the air. She looked behind her and saw Fitz standing there with a smirk on his face, staring down at her.

She got up quickly and turned to face him. He was tall, taller than she thought he was, and she felt so small standing in front of him on the side of the road.

"What are you doing here?" She stammered out, looking up at his deep brown eyes. He chuckled lightly at the scared expression on Clare's face, her blue eyes wide with fear.

"Relax. I won't bite. Unless you beg." Clare shot him a disgusted look. "And besides, what are _you_ doing here? Little Saint Clare sitting all alone on the side of the road." He mocked. She rolled her eyes.

"I was just walking home and I sat down for a little while. No big deal." She shrugged it off and sat down again. Fitz sat down next to her.

"So why isn't Emo Boy giving you a ride? Was he too busy putting on guyliner?" Fitz joked, but something in that question made Clare blow a fuse.

"Look, I just wanted to walk home, if that's okay with you." She snapped at him. His eyebrows shot up and he raised his hands in defense.

"Whoa, okay. I was just kidding." He said, a surprised expression on his face. Clare instantly felt bad, though she wasn't sure why. Fitz was Eli's arch rival, the only one who had the guts to push Eli too far.

"Sorry. It's just been a rough day, you know?" She said, staring at the pavement. Fitz nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." He said, then sighed. Clare looked over at him. He had almost a sad expression on his face as he stared up at the sky. Suddenly, Clare's phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the name on the screen, groaning softly before answering.

"Hello?" She said dully, and Fitz looked over at her, hearing the drastic change in her tone of voice. Clare rolled her eyes.

"I already told you that I was walking home!" She exclaimed in an aggravated tone. She was so fed up with Eli's control, but she couldn't escape from it either.

"No, you're right. I'm sorry." She said quietly, sounding a bit scared. Fitz never took his eyes off her as he watched the one-sided phone conversation taking place.

"No. Nobody's with me. I swear." She said, looking over at Fitz and pressing her finger to her lips, signaling for him to be quiet, even though he hadn't made a sound.

"Yeah, I'll call you when I get home. Bye, Eli. Love you." She said, snapping her phone shut. She looked over at Fitz, who was looking at her in concern.

"Trouble in paradise?" He asked, not mockingly, but sweetly. This was the first time Clare had ever heard him use that tone of voice.

"No. Everything's fine." She lied. Fitz raised a brow. She looked away quickly, avoiding his piercing gaze. Her hands shook and she tried to clench them into fists to get the shaking to stop.

"Why do you let him push you around like that?" He asked softly. She looked up, panic spreading across her face for a brief moment before she composed herself.

"Nobody's pushing anybody around. Our relationship is fine, not that it's any of your business." She snapped at him, running her fingers through her curly auburn hair.

"Now I know you're lying." He said, turning to face her. She got up quickly, grabbing her bag and turning away so her back was facing him.

"I've got to get home." She said hurriedly, refusing to look at Fitz. She began to walk away, leaving Fitz behind to stare at the pavement all by himself.


End file.
